Vogelsang – Hood 23 Yacht.

Despite the cold inclement weather I decided to head up to the boat on Saturday evening. Andrew has invited me to pop in and visit so I motor over to Greenwich. The plan is to stay on the boat tonight and then anchor off the Greenwich Baths tomorrow and help Andrew on his boat. Akvavit is on Ridley’s slipway just next to the baths.

Vogelsang’s old mooring is still vacant so I tie up to it and paddle to shore.

Andrew is cooking veal schnitzel and Roger (who was working on Andrew’s boat today) is feeding young Hugo and escaping a hens night back at his house. We all sit down to dinner while the kids watch Gene Wilder’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.

Eventually I head back to the boat and decide to motor it around to Balls Head Bay where I plan to anchor for the night. As I pass Greenwich Wharf, approaching Greenwich Baths, I decide to turn down the throttle. Having done so, the motor decided to conk out. It won’t start. The southerly blows me into the moored boats just off the Greenwich Sailing Club. I decide to throw out the anchor and keep trying to get the motor going.

No luck. It is drizzling and miserable. I am dead tired. Too much partying on Thursday and Friday evening. I decide that I will be spending the night here. If I can’t start the donk tomorrow morning I will just have to sail back to the mooring.

The motor was playing up on Tuesday, but later that evening it seemed to be fine again. I should have heeded the warning it gave me then.

There is a party on at the Greenwich Sailing Club. If I am not in a bad enough mood already, the music from the party is the icing on the cake. Really bad. But at midnight the fluorescent lights go on in the club house and the music stops.

At around 3AM I am woken by the boat banging against another moored boat. The wind and current have shifted. I tie up to it and put out the fenders. I cannot get back to sleep however as I worry about the anchor and the other moored boats.

Well I must have had got some sleep because it was 8AM when I decide to try and get the motor going again. I change the spark plug. This does no good. It must be a fuel problem. I am not going to try and fix it here. I will have to take the engine off the boat and home to fix it. At around 9AM I put up the main sail. I can see that Andrew is down at the slipway. I sail up close to the shore and explain my predicament. Andrew suggests I come to shore and go and fetch his spare outboard engine. I do this, leaving the main sail on the boom tied up but ready to be hoisted.

Andrew’s outboard starts like a dream. I motor back to the mooring, tie up, and hop straight into bed. After a few hours sleep I tidy up and pack up. It has been raining and the main sail, still on the boom is wet. Puddles of water run out of it as I detach it from the rigging. I decide to bring it to shore and home to dry it out.

A quick drive over to the slipway. Andrew is there battling the terrible weather. He is sanding the first coat of an epoxy sealer he has put over the hull. Andrew has stripped back the hull and faired the keel and stern. The boat’s hull provides some shelter from the rain. I give him a bit of help hand sanding any rough bits he misses with the power sander.

It is time to head home. I am buggered. What a miserable weekend. Terrible weather, a broken down donk and an evening spent fending off the moored boats around where I was forced to emergency anchor. Oh well, it is experiences like these which make you appreciate those beautiful days when the weather is perfect and the sailing is so relaxing.

Monday 30th October 2006

I have arranged to pick up two German travellers, Anne and Francesca from the Thames Street Wharf, Balmain. I arrive at 3:30pm just as they are hopping off the ferry from Circular Quay. The north-easterly makes the pick-up from the wharf interesting. I manage to give the wharf a good nudge as I yell to the girls to “jump in”.

We motor down the harbour under the bridge. The water is very sloppy today and the wind is quite fresh. The poor little outboard has a hard time pushing us through the slop and usual ferry wake outside Circular Quay. The engine lost power a few times and I thought it was going to conk-out at one stage.

We made it to just outside Neutral Bay where I put up the number 2 and main. A typical fresh 20-25 knot NE is blowing. We put in a nice tack past Clarke Island and behind Shark Island and across to Rose Bay. We are now somewhat into the lee of Vaucluse which makes the next tack a little calmer and gives us a chance to munch on the delicious biscuits the girls have brought.

We sail past Nielsen Park, but it is time to turn around and head for the Rose Bay wharf. As we approach the wharf we lower the head sail. We have to stand off for some time while a ferry load of office workers alight at the wharf. I circle around putting in a few tacks. Eventually the ferry heads off and we go into the wharf. I luff up a little too soon and we almost don’t make the wharf. Franzesca hops off the bow, gives me her hand and we pull the boat up along side the wharf so Anne can also hop off and I can push out and sail away.

Back up with the no. 2 and I head back down the harbour. This is my first solo sail with both sails up. I am surprised at how easy it is to set the no. 2 as I go through each tack. There is a good wind but I have no problem even taking my hand off the tiller to tighten the headsail with the winches. The boat luffs up but stays on her tack. Ahhh the freedom of sailing solo handed.

From my experience so far the Hood 23 is a great little boat. I have done no tweaking of the rigging at all so far. The main does not have a cunningham. Yet it seems to hardly need one. It points well. I was concerned that the long length keel might make it a bit unruly on the run but this is not the case. The keel helps prevent the boat from rounding up and keeps it nice and stiff on the beat.

After putting a few reaches in between Shark Beach (Nielson Park) and Chowder Bay (Clifton Gardens), just for the fun of it; I sail into Watsons Bay, drop sails and pack up. I decide to go for a twilight motor cruise around Watson’s Bay and Parsley Bay. Throttling just above idle I slowly putt around the foreshore between the moored boats with a beer in my hand. The upshot of this little cruise is that I decide to anchor back where I started as this seemed the most sheltered spot. I find a mooring which is not being used and tie up to it. It is well and truly dark now.

My night time view from deck is a contrast of the city lights and the darkness of the bushland which runs from Bradleys Head to Clifton Gardens. (Does bushland run uphill or downhill?) I don’t know how long I sat on deck staring at this view and watching the Manly ferries passing every thirty minutes. Each time the city bound and Manly bound ferries passes somewhere along Bradleys Head. It took around fifteen minutes for the ferry wake to reach my boat.

In the morning, after coffee and breakfast, I spent a couple of hours scrubbing the deck, cleaning the cabin and pottering about. Then it was up with the sails. Another couple of reaches across the harbour just for the fun of it. I give a wave to the fishos anchored off Sow and Pigs reef. Then it is time to head up the harbour.

I broad reach all the way up the harbour. Along the way I make a couple of diversions. One into Farm Cove. On the other side of the bridge I head over to Balmain and sail behind Goat Island and through the dolphins off Snails Bay. Eventually I am in Woodford Bay and sail up to the mooring. Although I am hooning in on a reach the boat stops on a dime as soon as I luff it up and onto the mooring.

What a great sail. Time to head home.

Sunday 29th October 2006

Vogelsang has a new mooring in Woodford Bay, Lane Cove River.

Wiggled my arse over to Bias boating this morning to buy some bits and pieces for the dingy and the anchor. When we got to Greenwich Fausto and I motored the boat across to Woodford Bay while Jan drove my car there. I found a spot for the dingy and set up a chain and lock to secure it.

We motored out of the river and set up the sails near Birchgrove. No. 1 Genoa and main. Initially looked like there would be plenty of wind to sail the narrow and flukey passage to the bridge and past Circular Quay. It turned out the wind was quite flukey. The crew were learning the art of tacking the headsail, working the winches and trimming the sail. On a few tacks we only managed to go sideways. Soon the crew had things sorted out a bit more and we made our way down the harbour.

The wind is pretty much an easterly. We tack up to Mosman and then across to Rose Bay and then straight down the harbour across the heads to North Harbour. We sail into Quarantine Beach and drop the anchor and the sails.

This is my second trip to Quarantine Beach within one week. Today the wind is curling around the rocks and the southerly swell is managing to come into the harbour, refract off Middle head and back onto the beach. It is not as calm as last week. This does not stop us from relaxing for a while over lunch and a beer.

Once we raise the sails and the anchor and get on a reach up the harbour, Fausto takes the helm. For someone who has not sailed except once before on a catamaran, he is a natural. On the broad reach up the harbour I pull out the anchor and reorganise the anchor chain adding three meters of eight milimetre chain to the end. We head over to Clarke Island, gybe, then head under the bridge. Once past McMahon’s point I crank up the donk and lower the sails. The smoke from bushfires hangs low on the horizon and the sun turns a deep burnt orange as it drops behind it. A good time for another beer and a group photo as we chug into the Lane Cove River and back to the mooring.

Fausto is a natural at the helm

Mark, Jan and Fausto, Balmain and Cockatoo Island in background.

Post Script: I have heard on the radio that the NSW government has just signed a 45 year lease giving the old Quarantine Station over to some hotel group to build and run a hotel on the site. This is an outrage and a very sad situation. The Quarantine station and the whole North Head is both an historical and environmentally sensitive area. Fairy penguins nest and breed in North Harbour every year. The historic Quarantine station is a significant part of Sydney’s surviving heritage. The argument put by the relevant minister, Bob Devus that the development will pay for conservation of the area is complete joke. If this logic is applied to the substantial amounts of public lands around the harbour a lot of heritage, public bushland and beauty will be endangered and privatised. It is an outrage and from a government which has just about stuffed up every deal it has done with big business over public infrastructure in this state. It is not the right of the government as custodian of this significant site to hand it over to private development and use.

The transformation of old industrial land, the old power stations and the like, into ugly mechano high rise yuppie cocoons, a casino, and drab strips of sterile, heavily landscaped, public access waterside “parklands” over the past twenty years has disfigured Sydney Harbour and the Parammatta River enough already. It is a sad indictment of modern architecture and design that one hundred year old power stations and old decaying docks looked so aesthetic and sympathetic in the harbour side landscape in comparison with what has replaced them.

Yesterday I took Manuel and Jens (who are visiting from Germany) out for a sail.

The highlight for me was seeing a seal perched upon the western channel starboard marker off Middle Head.

Upon leaving Greenwich there was not much wind up so we decided to motor down the harbour, under the bridge towards Kirribilli. By the time we got to Kirribilli we each had a beer in hand and my German guests were also busy taking their holiday photos of the sights. So I continued to motor until we reached Curraghbeena Point between Mosman Bay and Little Sirius Cove.

There was a nice 8-10 knot NE blowing and I decided to put up the no.1. There is some sorting out of halyards which still needs to be done but we managed to get under sail without too much bother.

A port tack took us behind Shark Island and over to the Eastern side of Rose Bay. This allowed us to make a starboard tack all the way up the harbour, across the open waters between the heads and into North Harbour. One more port tack saw us puffing into the lee of Quarantine Beach where we dropped the sails and anchored. We could have easily handled the no. 2 genoa on the trip up, but the no. 3 gave us a very leisurely cruise from Curraghbeena Point to Quarantine Beach in about one hour and maybe a quarter hour more.

A late lunch in the crisp afternoon sunshine and of course another beer. As the clock approached 4:30pm I was eager for us to head off so that we would have enough light to get back home. (No nav lights – solar panel installation and battery recharge will have to be next week). One of the crew needed encouragement to scull his beer. By this stage I had already changed the headsail over to the no. 2 genoa.

We got under sail, lifted the anchor and pointed up the harbour. We passed our friend the seal once more and broad reached all the way over towards Clarke Island. This allowed us to gybe onto a starboard square reach through a (pre-season?) twilight regatta coming the other way.

At Kirribilli we dropped sails as the sun dropped over the horizon. We motored back to Greenwich and tied up. By the time we were drinking a hot cuppa the twilight was all but gone.

It was a beautiful day spent puffing along the harbour, relaxing on deck with no dramas or worries. She’s lovely company to have, my dear Vogelsang.

Post Script: Tiller extension repaired to original condition (as per when I purchased) and re-attached to tiller. It is not a great attachment. I might need to install an alternative universal joint.

I had another leisurely day onboard Vogelsang the other day. I picked up Britt from Greenwich Wharf and we caught up and had a chat while we motored ever so slowly over to Drummoyne and to All Craft Marine. I had motored over to All Craft Marine a couple of days earlier and had wanted to tie up and have a chat with John Lord the manager, but it was dead low tide and I ended up grounding myself on his slipway instead. Well we did have a chat eventually which is why I returned. Vogelsang needs a boat code so I can transfer ownership to myself. Beaurocracy and more expense!

Britt helped me tie up and we popped up to the office to do all the paperwork. Before we knew it we were back on the water and putting back to the Lane Cove River. It is hot today and a breeze is coming up. It would be nice to have a sail. Britt, however, needs to be back at the Wharf at 1pm. She has to work this afternoon. So we just motor along ever so slowly and have a good chat and a catch up.

We get to Gore Creek which is where I have been allocated a mooring (soon to be put in) and stop for lunch. Soon it is time to drop Britt off at Greenwich wharf. As we approach I can see my mate Andrew walking down the street. I hail him and he comes down to the wharf. He has a camera hanging around his neck. As Britt hops off, Andrew hops on. He mutters a few words. I can make out a few phrases such as “bloody council”, something about a D.A (Development Application) he has put in and needing to take photos.

Before long Andrew has forgotten his terrestrial troubles and is setting up the sheets asking me to pass up the sails and tugging at the halyards.

It is a beautiful typical Sydney arvo. A NE is blowing and we work our way down the harbour past Long Nose Point (Birchgrove). We circumnavigate Goat Island and put in some nice reaches as we meander back. Strangely enough, Andrew has his GPS in his pocket. What an odd fellow that carries his GPS around in his pocket! We are just nudging up to 6 knots on the reach which is not bad considering the sails are not trimmed right and I can not put the outboard leg up out of the water. (The outboard trim required a minor repair which was sorted out back at the mooring). There is no cunningham in the main and the head sail needs to be hoisted higher. We didn’t hoist it right. I am still working out the halyards, cleats and winches. Oh boy, and don’t the winches need a service!

That was all a bit of fun, but I have to get to the Maritime Authority this arvo and sort out the rego and this boat mooring license. So we head home and pack up.

I’ve got back from a stint overseas. Luckily Vogelsang was still on her mooring although at the waterline she was looking a little green.

Last week I took two Berliners out on her. As we motored down the harbour, Jan and I had an obligatory nip of OP rum. Jan swung from the rigging while Diana took photos with the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House as a backdrop. Eventually we reached Rose Bay and the sun came out. A mild wind was blowing E-SE so we decided to put up the number one (without the main sail) and took a very leisurely cruise (about 2 knots) back up the harbour.

We started on a broad reach passing under Shark Island. I trimmed the sails and gave the helm to Jan telling him to point towards the bridge before popping below to put on the kettle. After handing out the cuppas I came back on deck, re-trimmed the sails and set Diana (who was now at the helm) on a new course on a tighter reach past Fort Dennison and towards Kirribilli. The wind was starting to swing around to the north east as it tends to do in the arvo.

Diana was good at keeping watch of the traffic. She pointed out the ferry coming across our course and heading to Taronga Zoo. I told her to keep her course. We each had a nice hot cuppa in our hands which is hardly the right moment to put in a gybe. As the ferry got closer Diana seemed a little more concerned so I took the helm, having not yet decided weather we should luff up, bear away or resort to the extreme act of putting down our cuppas and making a gybe. As the ferry got closer I decided we could just bear away and it would go across and in front of us. No dramas. We did get a close look at the ferry.

I adjusted our course again to head back towards Kirribilli. Within a minute a navy police (NP) patrol boat was up beside us. The conversation went something along the lines of:

NP: “That was a bit close mate.”
ME: “Not really. Well it was a bit closer than I would usually like to get but we’ve all got a cuppa in our hands which made it a bit hard to gybe.”
NP: “You don’t think you went a bit too close to that ferry?”.
ME: “Nah, no worries, we didn’t hit it!”.
NP: “Well I think you went a bit close.”

Crikey, we were probably only doing two knots, holding a straight course and we were the only traffic in the area. The ferry master would have had to go out of his or her way to put itself on a course to hit us.
After that friendly chat they powered off. Jan asked me what they were saying and I just told them we were having a chat.

Soon we were in front of the Kirribilli Flying Squadron where we luffed up and dropped the sail and tidied up. I had not had a chance to scrub down the decks before I picked up Jan and Diana and so we all had quite a bit of oxidized gelcoat on our backsides. Diana even decorated her face with a few stripes. Someone from a nearby marina was motoring around in his tender and came up to us and offered that we tie up to one of the vacant moorings while I packed up the sails. But there was no need for us to do so. So I dropped off two white bummed German backpackers at Kirribilli wharf and motored back up harbour.

Saturday 6th August, 2005

Andrew and I went up to Whitworths (Crows Nest) to do a bit of shopping in the morning. Got down to the boat around 12:30pm. I’ve brought a stash of jelly babies and rice crackers to put onto the boat.

Attached the sheet bags and winch handle holder. I managed to snap one drill bit and it is now permanently lodged in the bulkhead. I didn’t expect much from drill bits bought in a $2 shop. Anyway, I’ve managed to conceal where it sticks through into the cabin with a few strips of gaffer tape.

At 2pm I head over to Greenwich wharf to pick up Andrew. (While I was mucking about on the boat Andrew took his daughter Lara for a bike ride). Andrew and I are going to go through the sail wardrobe, check out the sails (most of them I have not looked at yet). While I am rummaging around below Andrew decides to motor us back to the mooring. There is not much wind so there will be no harm in raising the sails while on the mooring.

We pulled out one of the main sails. Battens – where are the battens? I find some below. We slide the foot into the boom and hoist the sail up the mast. The sail looks OK. We pull out the other main sail. It is not in very good nick. It looks like it might be the boat’s original sail. We might put that one back in the bag and leave it below for emergency use. Out with the number 3. Andrew does some work on cleaning up the hanks while I pull out the light genoa. The hanks on the light genoa need some work too.

At this stage we can see there is a bit of breeze up now. We might be able to get a short twilight sail in. But then we decide that is too late and we won’t get much of a sail in during the brief winter twilight. Time instead to crack open the bottle of scotch I’ve stashed below. We pack up the sails and decide to head over to Andrew’s S80 to check up on her. A quick motor around Woodford Bay checking out moored yachts. There is Alex Rossi’s house (the house she grew up in). Alex was a Loreto Kirribilli girl who I knew in my school days. I went to a couple of great parties at that house.

Returning to the mooring we get to shore before dark.

Wednesday, 27th July 2005.

Wake up Wednesday at a suitably late hour to compensate for having been woken by the wake from ships and ferries at various times during the night. First phone call comes in at 8:30AM but fortunately, the mobile phone battery goes dead after that call. Note to self – must get a spare mobile phone battery. Check the servers, do some work, chat with the overnight help desk staff. Time for coffee. I crack open the seal on the tin of coffee I found on the boat with a use-by date of 1990. Percolate a big mug of coffee (three shots). Hmmm, I think that use by date is probably right. I might stick to the tea for the time being.

Time to finish repairing that starboard navigation light. After that, I rig up the new spinnaker halyard. Andrew estimated the length of the old halyard on Saturday and was adamant that 18M of sheet would be enough. Lucky I bought 20M as I would have been a meter short otherwise. When it comes to measuring up the other halyards I think I might get Pythagoras to help me out. Wash up and a quick scrub of the deck. Time to head off.

Head off around some time around 11:00AM. Once suitably clear of Robertson’s Point and the lighthouse I see that there is a slight breeze coming up. Is it from the SE? I would have expected something from the west. What the heck – time to have my first sail on Vogelsang. I’m not going to be too adventurous because on Saturday the feeble little screw which had been holding the tiller extension to the tiller for probably more than thirty years snapped and thus there is no tiller extension. (I went to Bias boating, Rockdale, the other day to purchase one but the ones they had were too long for such a wee boat as Vogelsang.) I find the No.3 head sail below deck and bring it up and go to clip the hanks onto the forestay. Wow, these hanks are literally encrusted in salt and corrosion. This sail has not been out of its sail bag for many a decade. Obviously not a popular sail with previous owners. Back below deck I grap the pliers from the toolbox and give each hank a yank to get it to open as I clip it to the forstay.

We are sailing. But not going anywhere fast. Time to try out the No.2 The No.2′s hanks are far more cooperative. I only have to bang one of them against the bow rail to persuade it to open up. And now we are sailing again – past Kirribilli House and straight into the doldrums around Sydney Cove and the bridge. On with the motor until I get over to Walsh bay and find some wind. Slowly the wind picks up and to gather some pace I decide to weave my way up the harbour on broad reaches. By the time I reach Balmain, Vogelsang is sailing along at a very relaxed pace. I’ve got time to tie up the tiller and nip below to put the kettle on. Sipping a cup of tea as I sail along Birchgrove and circumnavigate Cockatoo Island and then back to Greenwich.

What a lovely first sail. I’ve been reluctant to sail her, wanting to get familiar with the boat overall and also because I do want to renew most of the standing and running rig, and because the very ancient looking back stay tensioning device is completely ceased up.

Return to mooring at Greenwich around 4pm.

Tuesday, 26th July, 2005.

Depart Greenwich 12 noon.

The reason for being back on the boat despite being a little the worst for wear lately (see Shopping Day) is because I need to finish those repairs to the starboard nav light and also because I did not stow the outboard below deck on Sunday. It is blowing from the west and is predicted to get up to 20 knots in the afternoon. So I better get back on the boat and secure everything, and while I am at it, why not spend some time mucking about rather than working. So, I’ve come packed to spend the night aboard.

Cast off and head straight down the harbour. I’ve made an appointment to see a client so I might as well motor there. Boy this wind is picking up. I make it to Clontarf, Middle Harbour at 2:30pm, but the wind and current are too strong to anchor in the narrow, wind tunnel of Middle Harbour. I decide to head over to Clontarf marina and find an empty berth to pull into. I head into the office to speak with Steve, the manager. He isn’t too keen to let me stay at first – they don’t offer casual berths or moorings. I assure him I will only be two hours and he tells me I will have to because they lock the gate at 5pm sharp. I give Vigy a call to come and pick me up. His office is just up the hill. Meeting ensues – lots of talk about his CMS, email, domains and web geek stuff. Meeting over, back down to the boat.

Oh my goodness, it is blowing a gale now. This wind is gusting over 30 knots to be sure. I have a disaster of a time getting out of the marina berth. It is low tide and I have no water to manoeuvre in. The boat is facing nose into the marina so I have to back it out, but when I do the wind pushes her around to face into shore. I fend her off the other boats and slowly manoeuvre her back into the berth but this time facing the right way. Ready, steady, go… and I push her off at full throttle hoping to get enough speed up to turn her into the wind before being blown onto the shallows. Great, all is going well, I’m going to make it. Hang on! What’s that, oh my – the dingy line has wrapped itself around the bollard on the floating marina. Quickly put the engine into neutral – pull on the dingy painter and unwrap the dingy from the marina pontoon. All the time the boat starts drifting toward the shore. Back on the throttle – too late, the keel has hit bottom. Full throttle in reverse, bouncing up and down at the stern. We are away again – but I can make no progress reversing straight into this gale. So I’m back to fending the boat off the other boats on that side of the marina wondering how long I am going to have to stand there waiting for the wind to drop. Finally, Steve from the marina turns up on his launch to give me a tow out to the channel. Thanks Steve – what a champ! I apologise profusely for being such a nuisance.

I motor down Middle Harbour and am relieved when I’m able to swing southwards upon entering the main harbour and am able to hug the windward shore to stay out of the wind. As Vogelsang chugs past Obelisk Bay the orange embers of twilight extinguish on the western horizon. I hug the shore all the way down to Bradley’s head. Can you believe there are fishermen out in this wind? I round Bradley’s head and head past Taronga Zoo towards Little Sirius Cove. Shining a torch searching for unused moorings, I find a mooring bouy which has obviously been bobbing around in the water for some time – I don’t think its boat will be back tonight.

Cups of tea and 2 minute noodles for dinner and it is time to boot up the laptop and crank up the iBurst wireless internet and settle into doing some work for the evening.

Saturday, 23rd July 2005

Departed Greenwich approx. 10:30AM under motor. Motored to Birkenhead Point Marina to take the old girl shopping. Tied up at the marina. They charge $15 for a three hour “shopping berth” but Bridgett kindly let me stay a little longer (to 5pm!). I decided the boat needed to put on some weight so I spent the afternoon buying supplies and goodies. These included (in no particular order):

• A 70 amp hour battery (which fitted snugly into the existing wooden battery box on the port aft side).
• Snacks – chips, biscuits, lots of two minute noodles.
• Beverages and condiments.
• A frying pan and kettle.
• Cordless drill.
• Various plastic tubs and containers.
• Esky
• A torch, batteries, and candles.
• A coffee peculator (oh so important).
• Sleeping bag.
• Winch handle pocket and sheet bags.
• Spinnaker halyard.
• Electrical wiring, connectors, light bulbs and a battery tester.
• Personal hygiene stuff.
• 5 litres fuel.

… and most importantly,

• A bottle of Bundy O.P. Rum.
• A bottle of Dimple Scotch.

All this and more was purchased at the Birkenhead shopping centre and at Whitworths and Shell down the road.

Andrew came over to visit me in his run-about (Boston Whaler) bringing me a gift of Monique’s home baked biscuits. He berated me for having purchased 100m of 3mm general purpose lashing. True, it was a total overinvestment – but it had the advantage of being neatly coiled on a spindle. Andrew measured up the length of the spinnaker halyard and we agreed that I could go back to Whitworths and exchange the 100m rope for a new spinnaker halyard for not much more money. Off I went to do the exchange.

Got back to the boat and packed things away, randomly finding places to stow all the crap I had bought. Hooked up the new battery and did some wiring. Replaced the starboard nav light – but too late to reseal it properly. It had gone dark by now. So I tacked it together with electrical tape until later.

Wow – is that the time? Time to motor off to Berry’s Bay and find a place to anchor for the night. Can’t get the stove working right – I am doing something wrong, it either burns with a flame almost licking the cabin ceiling or goes out altogether. Get to Berry’s Bay and anchor close to shore (just off Waverton park) and near the dingy storage area. No hot water (due to lack of operational stove) so cold wash out of a bucket. Dress into going out clothes (minus shoes) and then into the dingy and row to shore. Have to drag the dingy up a small rock ledge to store it.

Set off on foot for the Union Hotel, Crows Nest. It’s the twenty year reunion of my class from school, St Aloysius College, Millson’s Point. What a great night meeting up with the lads. At some crazy wee hour I set off and meander through unfamiliar streets hoping to eventually weave my way back to Berry’s Bay. Grab the dingy and go to lower it down to the water’s edge.

Whoops! Talk about being legless – I’ve landed on my face two meters below where I was just standing. Face does not feel great. Better get into the dingy and head out to the boat and get some sleep. Back onboard the boat, getting ready for bed. What’s this? A bit of blood. Dab my face with a cloth until the bleeding stops. Now it really is time for some sleep.

Sunday morning – 11AM. Wow, what a headache! Oh well time to head back to the mooring – I’m to be back in Oatley at 2pm! Arrive back at mooring at Greenwich approx. 12 noon.

Post Script: The fractures to my eye socket, upper jaw and cheek bone did not need surgery. Sure enough the bleeing into my eye and nose ceased, the bruising faded and after a few weeks my head eventually regained it’s symmetry.